Wire drawing machine



Mazrch 2Q, 1934. R, c EREUER 1,951,722

WIRE DRAWING MACHINE Filed March 14, 1 953 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR- Ru 0/} C. Breuer- A RNEY'S.

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Mamh 20, 1934. R Q BREUER 1951 722 WIRE DRAWING MACHINE Filed March-l4, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Rudolf C. Bream" March 2% 1934. R Q BREUEIR 3,953,?22

WIRE DRAWING MACHINE Filed March 14, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR RhaQAfCYBrZuer ORNEY5 l X QM Marci 20, 1934, Q BREUE'R V LQBLFZE WIRE DRAWING MACHINE Filed March 14, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 a Q J:

INVENTOR & Rude/j C- Bfzuef g BY QQJ M ATTORNEYS.

March 20, 1934. R, c, BREUER WIRE DRAWING MACHINE Filed March l4, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR Rudol'f- C. Brzu erml yw a- Patented Mar. 20, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Frank Johnson,

Application March 14,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for drawing wire.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide an improved construction in a wire drawing I machine which permits of higher constant speeds of movement of the wire through the machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wire drawing machine which is much smaller than those normally employed for drawing wire.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a simpler. more inexpensive machine by means of which within a given space wire may be drawn to smaller sizes at increased speeds.

These and many other objects as will appear from the following disclosure are secured by means of this invention.

This invention resides substantially in the combination, construction, arrangement and relative location of parts, all as will appear more fully 20 hereinafter.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of one form of wire drawing machine in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged diagrammatic view of the take-up mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of this mechanism; n 30 Fig. 5 is a central longitudinal cross sectional view through a modified form of stepped capstan, which may be employed with the machine of Figs. 1 and 2; 4

drawing wire of larger sizes; and i Fig. 7 is a side elevational diagrammatic view of a portion 'of this machine showing the path 40 of travel of the wire through the machine.

The apparatus of Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive is particularly adapted for use in drawing-wires of intermediate and fine sizes. Heretofore, due to limitations in the apparatus employed, the maximum linear speed of the wire through a wire drawing machine has been of the order of 3,000 feet per minute. In addition, these known wire drawing machines are of considerable size. An object of this invention is to provide a wire drawing machine for intermediate and line sizes in which the wire has a linear speed of movement of the order of 4,500 feet per mnute. and in addition the machine is considerably smaller by reason of the novel features of this invention.

Referring to the drawings, the machine of Figs.

Glen Ridge, N. J.

1933, Serial No. 660,634

1 to 4 inclusive comprises a base or support 2 in the form of a tank or receptacle supported upon standards 1. Supported on the base 2 is a hood 3 which is open at the front. Journaled on the support are four horizontal shafts 4. 5, 6 and '7 which are arranged in vertical and horizontal pairs. Secured to these shafts respectively, for rotation therewith, are the stepped drawing drums 8. 9. 10 and 11. As is clear from Fig. 2. each cone consists of eight cylindrical portions of gradually increasing diameter from one end towards the other. Indeed, the drum is considerably like a stepped cone pulley. Mounted on the shaft 7 is a. drive pulley 12 which is connected by belts 13 to the pulley 14 which in turn is driven from a suitable power source, such as an electric motor (not shown).

Also mounted on shaft 7 is a sprocket wheel 15 which is connected by chain 16 to a sprocket wheel 17 on the shaft 6. Another sprocket wheel 18 mounted on the shaft 6 is connected by chain 19 to the sprocket wheel 20 mounted on the shaft 5. Another sprocket wheel 21 secured to shaft 5 is connected by the chain 22 to the sprocket wheel 23 on shaft 4. Other forms of drives may bev employed to effect conjoint rotation of shafts 4, 5. 6. and '7. The sprocket wheel and chain drive diagrammatically illustrated in the drawings are merely one example of a suitable form of drive for the four shafts. Exteriorly of the'casing a pulley 24 is secured to shaft 4 and drives through the pulley 25 the pulley 26 of the lubricating pump 2'7. The intake of this pump is connected by pipe 28 and the sprayer 29 to the supporting container 2. The outlet port of the pumpis provided witha pipe connection '30 which in turn has the branches 31 and 32 extending within the hood 3 and positioned respectively above the pairs of drums. These branches 31 'and 32 have trans.- versely extending branches 33 which are closed at the end and provided with spray openings through which a suitable lubricant such as a soap solution may be sprayed onto the wire drums and dies. At the point where the wire enters the machine a pair of guide rollers 34 are rotatably mounted. At 35 is the first die holder in' which any suitable form of drawing die may be mounted. Interposed between the pair of drums 8 and 9 is a die holder 36, which is provided with a plurality of dies of gradually decreasing diameter in the direction of travel of the wire.

Likewise interposed between the lower pair of capstans 10 and 11 is a second die holder 37 in which a plurality of dies of gradually decreasing diameter in the direction of the wire travel are mounted. At 38 is the finishing die holder through which the wire passes in leaving the machine. J ournaled on an extension of the support 2 is a pulley 39. Mounted on the same shaft with this pulley is a sprocket wheel 41 which is connected by the drive chain 42 to a sprocket wheel 43 on the same shaft with the second pulley 40. On the same shaft with the pulley 40 is a drive pulley 44 which is connected by belt 45 to the driven pulley 46 attached to the same shaft with the take-up spool 47. Supported above the take-up spool on a suitable sprocket is a pivotally mounted arm 47 on which the guide pulley 40 is rotatably mounted.

As shown in Fig. 2 a spring 50 normally tends to raise the arm 47 upwardly. Pivoted on the same axis with pulley 40 is an arm 48 on the free end of which is journaled a double groove guide pulley 49. A spring 50 is employed to normally force the arm 48 upwardly as is clear from Fig. 4.

In the prior art practice it has been usual to provide one power driven pulley at the delivery end of a wire drawing machine around which the wire is wrapped several times and from which the wire is fed to the take up reel. This arrangement is apparently satisfactory in machines for drawing wires of larger sizes. However, in machines adapted to draw wire of finer sizes and especially at higher speeds, this known form of take up is not satisfactory. In the case of fine wires, if the wire is wrapped around the power driven pulley several times, it readily breaks at high speeds of operation by reason of the frictional engagement of the several turns. With the present arrangement the wire passes between a pair of pulleys several times but is held out of contact as between respective turns on the pulleys by means of the guide wheel and its construction and arrangement. At the same time, the wire is held tensioned between the pulleys. With this device no difilculty is encountered in the drawing of very fine wires at high speeds of operation.

This take up mechanism, including the pulleys 39 and 40, and the spring pressed arm 48 and its grooved pulley 49, is of great practical advantage in drawing finer wires in high speed operation. The wire upon leaving the finishing die, passes around pulleys 39 and 40 several times. The grooved pulley spaces these turns and keeps the wires under tension. By thus spacing the wires between and on the pulleys, wire breakage is prevented and a uniform tension is maintained thereon.

The path of travel of the wire has been indicated in the drawings by the reference character W, and a dash and dot line. The wire enters the opening between the guide rollers 34 and suffers its first reduction in diameter in passing through the die in die holder 35. The wire then passes once around the smallest circumference of the stepped capstan 8. It then passes through the die in the die holder 36 where the wire undergoes a second reduction in diameter. The wire then passes to and around the smallest circumference of the stepped capstan 9. It then passes back below the die holder and around the next largest step of capstan 8 and then through the second die in the die holder 36, suffering its third reduction in diameter. The wire then passes once around the next largest circumference of the stepped capstan 9, and back below the die holder 86 to the next largest step of capstan 8.

passing through a drawing die, in going from one capstan 8 to capstan 9. When the wire reaches the largest diameter of the stepped capstan 9 it passes back to the smallest diameter of capstan 10 without passing through a drawing die. This is clear from Fig. 1. The wire then travels back and forth between the stepped capstans 10 and 11, passing successively through the drawing dies of gradually decreasing size as it passes from capstan 10 to capstan 11 until the wire issues from the largest diameter of capstan 11, from which it passes to and through a finishing die in the die holder 38. It then passes once around the driven pulley 39 to and par tially around the driven pulley 40 over the guide pulley 49, partially around pulley 39, again partially around pulley 40 over the guide pulley 49 a second time, then partially around pulley 39 back to pulley 40 and finally over the resiliently mounted pulley 48 from whence it travels to the spool 4'7 on which it is wound.

In view of the factthat the capstans 8, 9, 10 and 11, the pulleys 39 and 40 and the spool 47 are all power driven in synchronism the wire is subjected continuously to a uniform pull in the direction of its length, minimizing the danger of breakage. The wire is pulled uniformly through each die and is drawn therethrough along a line perpendicular to the face of the die. It will be apparent with this arrangement that the wire is subjected to a plurality of successive drawing operations within a very limited space because of the smoothness of operation of the mechanism and the uniformity of tension on the wire. It has been found with this machine that the maximum speed of movement of the wire may be greatly increased over that now possible with present forms of wire drawing machines.

The wire passing over the pulleys. 48 and 49 is kept under uniform tension after it leaves the finishing die and as a result is smoothly and uniformly wound up on the spool 47.

The machine just described may be further modified and compacted by mounting capstans 8 and 10 on the same axis of rotation and the capstans 9 and 11 on the same axis of rotation in accordance with the structure illustrated in Fig. 5. In this case, capstan 10 is keyed to a hollow shaft 53 which is mounted in ball bearings 52 supported in a suitable journal casing 51. The sprocket or gear 54 is likewise keyed to the hollow shaft 53. Passing through the hollow shaft 53 is a second shaft 62 which is journaled in the ball bearings 55 and 63. The capstan 8- is secured to one end of shaft 62 and the drive sprocket or gear 61 is secured to the other end thereof. The ball bearing 55 is supported in the capstan 10 and the ball bearing 63 is supported in a suitable journal casing 60.

Thus referring to Fig. 1, the capstans 10 and 11 are moved up so as to appear in front of the capstans 8 and 9 respectively, and of course the die holder 3'7 will likewise be moved up so as to be positioned between the outer capstans. The wire will then thread back and forth between the capstans, passing through the dies as before. This effects a further compacting of the mechanism, resulting in a smaller and more inexpensive machine.

The principles of this invention may be applied to machines for drawing wires of larger sizes, as has been illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7. In this form of the device a suitable casing or support '70 is provided, a shaft is journaled in the journal bearings 73 and '74, to which are keyed the pulleys 72 and '75. At 71 is indicated a belt which connects pulley, 72 to any suitable power source. Pulley 75 is connected by belt '76 to a pulley 77 secured to the main drive shaft '79. This shaft is journaled in the support 70 and in the journal bearing 78. Shaft 79 extends through the support to the front of the machine, as is clear from the drawings. Journaled in the support in parallel relation are the shafts 82, 83, 84, 85 and 86. Shaft '79 within the support is provided with pulleys, sprockets or the like 80 and 81, which are connected by corresponding belts or chains 89 and 88 to sprockets or pulleys on the shafts 83 and 84. Shaft 82 is driven from shaft 83 in a like manner through a belt or chain 87. In turn shafts 85 and 86 are driven by belts or chains 90 and 91.

The ends of shafts 82, 83, 79,94, 85 and 86 project through the front of the support and have keyed thereto the two step capstans 98, 99, 100, 101, 102 and 103. At 92 is the first die holder for supporting one die. Between the capstans 98 and 99, 100 and 101, 102 and 103 are the die holders 93, and 9'7 for supporting two drawing dies. Interposed between the capstans 99 and 100 and 101 and 102 are the die holders 94 and 96 for supporting one die each. At 104 is the finishing die. Journaled on a vertical shaft is a pulley 105 which is driven through a suitable mechanism such as a worm and worm wheel by means of shaft 106, which shaft in turn is driven through the belt or chain 107 from shaft 86. Exteriorly of the support is a pulley connected to shaft 106 which drives through belt 109 a pulley 110 on the shaft 111 journaled in the support. This shaft 111 is arranged to effect rotation of the pick-up spool 112. A portion of this mechanism is diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 7. I favor the path of travel of the wire as indicated at W. The wire enters the machine through the first die 92, it is wrapped once around the smallest diameter of capstan 98 passes through the first die of the die holder 93, passes twice around the smallest diameter of capstan 99, then travels back below the die holder 93 to the larger diameter of the capstan 98 around which it partially passes. It then travels through the second die in die holder 93, and passes once around the larger diameter of capstan 99. The wire then passes through the single die of die holder 94, once around the smaller diameter of capstan 100 through the first die of die holder 95, twice around the smaller diameter of capstan 101, and then back below die holder 95 to the larger diameter of capstan 100. This travel is continued until the wire passes through the finishing die 100. It then passes around the driven pulley 105 and from there to the take-up spool 112.

This machine is also adapted to higher speeds than that of which present machines are capable. It is likewise approximately one-third shorter in length than present machines in which the wire is drawn a comparable number of times. All of the capstans, pulley 105 and the spool 112 are.

positively driven in synchronism, insuring uniform pull on the wire.

From the description given above it will be apparent that the invention resides in certain principles of operation and construction which may be carried out by those skilled in the art with other physical forms of apparatus, and. I do not therefore desire to be strictly limited to the disclosure as given for purposes of illustration, but rather to the scope of the appended claims.

What I seek to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A wire take-up mechanism as described comprising a pair of power driven pulleys, an arm pivotally mounted on the axis of one of said pulleys, a double grooved guide wheel mounted on said arm and spring means for urging the arm in the direction to tension the wire in passing from one pulley to the next.

2. A wire take up mechanism as described comprising a pair of pulleys journaled for rotation. a pivotally supported guide wheel mounted between said pulleys and having a double groove on its periphery and means for urging said wheel to ten- 'sion the wire in passing between the pulleys.

3. In a wire take up mechanism, a pair of spaced rotatable pulleys, a movably supported double grooved guide wheel between said pulleys and means for yieldingly urging said guide wheel in a direction to tension wires passing between said pulleys.

RUDOLF C. BREUER. 

